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Partnership for Public Service and the Washington Post Launch Political Appointee Tracker

12/05/2016

WASHINGTON – The nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service today announced the launch of a new political appointments tracker in partnership with The Washington Post to follow the progress of more than 660 of President-elect Trump’s Senate-confirmed political appointments. These positions include Cabinet secretaries, deputy and assistant secretaries, chief financial officers, general counsels, heads of agencies, ambassadors and other critical leadership jobs. The tracker will provide data on both number of appointments filled and the progress of candidates as they go through the nomination and confirmation process.

“Since the election, President-elect Donald Trump has announced several appointments to his administration, but these are just a handful of the 4,000 political positions that he will need to make,” said Max Stier, Partnership president and CEO. “This tracker will play a key role in holding both the president-elect and the Senate accountable for ensuring the top leaders are in place to run our government effectively, keep our country safe and deliver critical services to the American people.”

“As the country and the world prepare for a new U.S. president, we are excited to offer our readers a real-time way to follow the Trump administration’s appointments for hundreds of critical leadership positions. With the tracker, our readers can see how individual appointments are progressing, from nomination to confirmation,” said Steven Ginsberg, senior politics editor at The Washington Post. “The data we gather with this tracker will also inform our reporting on the new administration.”

The Partnership’s Center for Presidential Transition believes that the president-elect should have the top 100 department and agency leaders confirmed immediately after Inauguration Day, with 300 more key political positions filled by the August 2017 congressional recess.

While the rate of past cabinet picks and White House staff during transition is an important metric, Stier believes it should not be the measure of success.

“The benchmark should be whether or not President-elect Trump will be ready to govern on day one, not that he meets outdated standards,” said Stier.

Visit presidentialtransition.org for more information about the appointments process, which includes position descriptions for many of these leadership positions and critical information about federal agencies, such as the health of the workforce, technology issues and more.

For 15 years, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Partnership for Public Service has been dedicated to making the federal government more effective for the American people. We work across administrations to help transform the way government operates by increasing collaboration, accountability, efficiency and innovation. Visit ourpublicservice.org to learn more.

Partnership for Public Service and the Washington Post Launch Political Appointee Tracker

The Partnership for Public Service is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that believes good government starts with good people. We help government serve the needs of all Americans by strengthening the civil service and the systems that support it.